Monitoring of Ultrafine Particles in the Surrounding Urban Area of In-Land Passenger Ferries

Abstract

Maritime transportation, widely used both in international transport of goods and touristic purposes, has been identified as a significant source of ultrafine particles (UFP). Inland passenger ferry is a source of UFP far less addressed; however, in locations with relatively high frequency of this transportation mode, it is expected that they contribute to an increase of their concentration. Moreover, the negative effects of UFP on human health and environment are known and therefore, monitoring UFP produced by ferries is vital to assess the degree of exposure of who work or live close to ferries' terminals or downwind to their cruising path. This work aims to study the influence of inland ferries activities on UFP in the urban/suburban areas near ferries' terminals and downwind across the cruising path. The UFP monitoring campaign was carried out from September to December 2018 for 19 non-consecutive periods. The sampling sites were chosen in order to maximize measurements under downwind conditions and allow the association between ferry operation and UFP concentration response. Based on data collected, correlation analysis was performed between ferry's traffic and particle number counting (PNC) of UFP, and also with meteorological variables. Results show an increase in PNC ranging from 25 to 197% during the third minute around a ferry movement and are moderate to positive significant correlations between PNC values and the number of ferry operations (r = 0.79 to r = 0.94), showing that UFP emitted by inland ferries contributes to PNC increase. Moreover, negative correlations

City Scale Modeling of Ultrafine Particles in Urban Areas with Special Focus on Passenger Ferryboat Emission Impact

“…This indicates ferry routes with high frequency to be an emission source approximately as relevant as highly frequented streets. To our knowledge, the only published study on in-land ferries is for the city of Lisbon (Portugal); it reports concentration increases of a similar range near ferry piers [27]. In Hamburg, the maximum measured concentration at a pier was 4.0 × 10 4 cm −3 , although the vessels observed in that case have a higher engine power than those in Lisbon.…”

“…However, these values were measured at large passenger ferries and cruise ships while the considered in-land ferryboats have smaller engines. To the best of our knowledge, the only published study on passenger ferries in a similar size range is from [27], which unfortunately does not include PN size distribution or emission factors for these ferries. Therefore, EF N and size distribution of diesel truck engines were considered.…”

“…As in-land passenger ferryboats operate close to the shore and at high frequency, they might be of particular importance for UFP concentrations. Available studies report increased UFP concentrations in residential areas and workplaces due to ferryboat traffic [26,27]. Observations of in-land passenger ferryboat traffic in Lisbon showed UFP concentrations within 2-7 × 10 4 cm −3 close to piers during the presence of ferries, corresponding to an increase by 25-197% compared to periods with no ferry arrivals/departures [27].…”

“…Available studies report increased UFP concentrations in residential areas and workplaces due to ferryboat traffic [26,27]. Observations of in-land passenger ferryboat traffic in Lisbon showed UFP concentrations within 2-7 × 10 4 cm −3 close to piers during the presence of ferries, corresponding to an increase by 25-197% compared to periods with no ferry arrivals/departures [27]. Furthermore, particle number emission factors (EF N ) exist for different types and sizes of passenger ferries, but mostly for HFO engines or large diesel engines.…”

Modeling of the Concentrations of Ultrafine Particles in the Plumes of Ships in the Vicinity of Major Harbors

“…High concentrations of ultrafine particles (UFPs), defined as particles having mobility diameter (Dp) less than 100 nm (1.0 × 10 −7 m), have been measured in marine ports in Europe [10][11][12][13]. Due to their small size, UFP can penetrate deeper in the respiratory tract than larger particles.…”